Some charging apparatuses serving as a charger that supplies power to a battery of an electric automobile or an electric motorcycle have a lock mechanism provided in the housing of the charger main unit that permits the user to pull the power supply plug out of the housing of the charging apparatus only after the user performs an unlocking operation, in order to avoid an accident caused by tampering by a child or an accident caused by damage to the power supply plug. Such charging apparatuses have to be configured to allow an appropriate user to easily attach and detach the power supply plug and to reliably inhibit an inappropriate user from pulling out the power supply plug.
In the following, an example of a charging apparatus according to prior art having a lock mechanism provided in a charging apparatus main unit will be described. FIG. 11 are diagrams showing the charging apparatus according to prior art. FIG. 11(a) is a perspective view of the entire charging apparatus, and FIG. 11(b) is a perspective view of a locking device. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 90 denotes a charging apparatus, reference numeral 91 denotes a power supply plug, reference numeral 92 denotes a locking device, reference numeral 93 denotes a slidable pin, reference numeral 94 denotes a removal button, and reference numeral 95 denotes a cover.
The charging apparatus shown in FIG. 11 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-259277. As shown in FIG. 11(a), the charging apparatus 90 has a holding part for holding the power supply plug 91 on the front of the main unit thereof and the removal button 94 for removing the power supply plug 91 from the holding part in the vicinity of the holding part. The charging apparatus 90 further has the cover 95 capable of covering a tip end part of the power supply plug 91 and the removal button 94. The cover 95 is attached to the front of the main unit in such a manner that a part protruding forward can rotate in the vertical direction. The cover 95 is configured to cover the tip end part of the power supply plug 91 and the removal button 94 when the forward protruding part rotates downward. Although not shown, the cover 95 has a hole in a side thereof, the slidable pin 93 of the locking device 92 is inserted into the hole to limit the rotation of the cover 95 when the charging apparatus 90 is not in service. The slidable pin 93 is made to slide by switchably energizing or stop energizing the solenoid of the locking device 92. Thus, in the locked state, the cover 95 over the removal button 94 cannot be made to rotate, and therefore, the power supply plug 91 cannot be detached from the holding part. To perform power supply, the user performs a predetermined manipulation to remove the slidable pin 93 from the hole in the cover 95 and rotates the cover 95 upward before the user can press the removal button 94.
The charging apparatus has to have the locking device 92 provided in a forward part of the main unit of the charging apparatus. However, the manipulation part and the display part also have to be provided in the forward part of the main unit of the charging apparatus, so that the charger main unit becomes larger and more complicated in design. In addition, in the case when the charging apparatus is installed outdoors, there is a possibility that the solenoid gets wet with rain entering from the outside to rust or to lead to a short circuit of a lead or the like connected to the locking device 92 or of a coil of the solenoid itself. To reliably protect the locking device 92 from water, a waterproof wall has to be provided around the locking device 92, or the cover 95 has to have a larger size. However, the waterproof wall or the larger cover also has to be provided in the forward part of the main unit of the charging apparatus, so that the charger main unit becomes larger. This causes an increase of the manufacturing cost.